cruising yacht.
Sustainable charging and electric propulsion will keep you cruising.
My interest with Electric Yacht Engine‘s happened in the early 2000’s. I looked only as an environmental thing. An electric yacht propulsion was a long way off.
My dream affected my life.
Circumnavigation of the planet affected me from my teens. My life would never be the same.
10 years ago as a boat builder, I had many conversations with Trevor, the director at Lynch Electric Motor Co. I was as sure as I could be, that electric auxiliary engines in boats would be the direction, for the boat building industry.
Solar panels and wind generators on yachts is no longer unusual.
10 years on from my first discussions with Trevor, about electric yacht engines, solar power, wind generators and battery technology/power storage. We’ve seen a huge positive surge, in sustainable technology, to feed the power-hungry human race. You rarely see a yacht without solar panels.
This was the end of diesel engines in yachts for me. Electric engine was my choice.
We have the means to live sustainably on our boats, we just need to make the initial investment. It’s almost FREE!
A catastrophic failure in the cooling system, was final nail in the coffin for diesel engines. This completely cooked the Bukh DV20 engine in Ocean Strider. It was terminal.
Circumnavigating the earth by sail was my dream.
My wife and I had already made plans to circumnavigate the earth by sail, the pressure was on. This had long been my dream; I was going to make it happen.
We were struggling through the worst time in our lives financially, and this situation made me think more about costs.
This was my dream, and if I didn’t do it now, I never would. The wife was prepared to give it a go!
We could not afford a new Bukh engine for Ocean Strider straight away; we would need to save. We had time to consider our next move. Our sailing circumnavigation was planned for just 1 year.
I knew how a diesel engine would perform.
I already knew how a new diesel engine would perform on short passages. But what about the running and service costs on a circumnavigation. There was the high chance of buying contaminated fuel as we travelled, and the costs associated with it.
We had sails, and plenty of sailors have got by without an auxiliary engine, but it was not a piece of equipment we wanted to give up.
I started thinking about the advantages of an electric yacht engine.
At this time, I had no experience using an electric yacht engine. Attempting a circumnavigation with it, would be like jumping off a cliff. I tried talking to people about this subject, but it seemed no one had any experience. We were on our own!
The advantages, 4 YEARS ON!
Make your own clean FREE fuel! Solar, wind generator and re-generation.
Service costs! Services intervals are 10 times longer. No oil or filters to buy, it is almost FREE!
Reliability! Almost no moving parts, incredibly reliable.
Using electric engines is a joy.
Using an electric yacht engine! They are so quiet, vibration and fume free. It a joy to use electric propulsion, not an issue.
Installation! The weight scale will change to suit your yacht, but my electric engine was 14 times lighter than the equivalent diesel engine. I could lift it with one hand, which made fitting electric propulsion much easier than fitting a diesel engine.
Weight distribution! As the engine is so light, the boat is almost not affected. Batteries come in many shapes and sizes now. With thought you can usually position them to help boat stability.
Energy storage! Battery technology has and is moving forward at an amazing pace. Bigger & better battery banks, store more energy safely. Giving more range for propulsion, also improving your live aboard options.
No engine bay smells, you almost forget you’re on a yacht.
A cleaner boat! No fuel, oil, or filters, and in my case, no water cooling. A clean engine bay and a boat with engine no engine bay smells.
Safety! I realise that there have been issues with batteries, and electric propulsion requires them. But issues are very rare and most boats have batteries anyway.
No pollution! No oil or fuel spills in the oceans or waterways.
4 years and roughly 6,000 miles, traveling with Electric Propulsion, inboard and outboard. I love it! I will not go back to internal combustion, it’s a horrible thought.
Disadvantages! I don’t think there are any!
Adapting to Electric auxiliary engines. There are lots of worries when you start your electric propulsion journey, but you soon adapt.
We humans pride our-selves on how intelligent we are. It takes a while to get the most out of an electric propulsion system on a sail yacht. If you need any more information, please contact me through my contact page
I would love to help you with information, about how I did it
Sustainable sailing. Choose an electric engine for your cruising yacht.
